Apparatus for producing the suspension of a liquid in a gasiform atmosphere



June 17, 1952 F, GAQCHARD 2, 00,503

APPARATUS FOR PRODUSING THE SUSPENSION OF A LIQUID m AGASIFORM ATMOSPHERE Filed Oct. '13, 1948 fnveniar;

W 4/ WM.

Patented June 17, 1952 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING THE SUSPEN- SIGN OF A LIQUID IN A GASIFORM AT- MOSPHERE Fernand Gauchard, Santenay, France 1 Application camber 13, 1948, Serial Nofs rz i's In France October 14, 1947 i 2 Claims. 1

The formation of a suspension of a. liquid in a gasiform atmosphere in the form of very fine particles appears as a preferred procedure for numerous medical, biological or industrial applications, such for instance as the application of medicine through the lungs, the destruction of the pathogenic reagents contained in air, the destruction of insects, the fixation of active reagents on certain substances, the execution of chemical reactions in ultra dispersed phases, therapeutical and veterinary applications, arboriculture, carburetting and the like.

The method described in my Swiss Patent No. 190,843 consists chiefly in atomizing the liquid as finely as possible, in breaking the jet of fine particles thus obtained on a stationary, movable or liquid wall and constraining the gas carrying the particles held in suspension to pass through a path, provided with baffles, along surfaces onto which the larger droplets are deposited while leaving in suspension only the fine particles that it is desired to retain in the suspension.

It has been recognized that on the one hand the diameter of the particles passing out of the apparatus thus designed varies according to the nature of the liquid used, its specific weight, its capillary pressure and the like, and that on the other hand, it was preferable to obtain particles of difierent sizes, according to the application considered.

It is also sometimes necessary to produce a certain proportion of particles that are large enough for the suspension obtained to be capable of wetting to a certain extent the surfaces with which the particles comes into contact.

The object of the present invention consists in providing an apparatus adapted to produce a mist with particles of a predetermined size, said size being modified as desired in accordance with requirements and the nature of the product used.

For this purpose, the apparatus is characterized by the combination of an atomizer, a stationary, movable or liquid surface located in front of the atomizer Jet, so as to break the jet of atomized liquid and means for producing a gasiform stream carrying along with it to the outside of the apparatus the liquid particles that are held in suspension in the stream, through a system of baflle members, the number, arrangement for angular setting of which may be adjusted in order to modify the path followed by the gasiform stream and consequently the arrangement of the surfaces on which the particles carried along said path have a tendency to adhere. According to a first embodiment, the bafile members arranged in the (c1. zen-) 2 path of the gasiform stream comprise partitions placed substantially at right angles to the stream. and are provided with perforations arranged in staggered position, said partitions being removably mounted so that their number may be adjusted as desired.

According to a particular embodiment of this arrangement, the baiile members provided in the path of the gasiform stream comprise perforated plates parallel to each other and supported by a spindle revolubly mounted in a casing the inner surface of which substantially coincides with the contour of the outer edges of the plates when the said plates are rotated around the spindle.

Further features will appear in the following description given by way of example solely of various apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Said description refers to accom- 'panying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly in section of an embodiment of the apparatus, and

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, the upper spherical chamber being removed.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the selecting device comprises a series of parallel discs 43 provided with openings 44 and carried by a spindle 45. The latter is carried by a support 46 perpendicular thereto. The system thus constituted rotates inside a hollow sphere 41, the two halves of which are superposed and interconnected by flanges 48. The lower half of the sphere is carried by a hollow support 49 resting on the base 50. Insid said support and along the central axis thereof is secured an atomizer 5| that is connected on one side to the compressed air pipe 52 and on the other to a pipe for feeding medicine, for instance. Through rotation of the knob 53 controlling the support 46 it is thus possible to adjust the inclination of the discs 63 and consequently to select the fine particles that are carried along.

The operation of the device is believed to be apparent in view of the description and drawing. Various modifications of the device are possible within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for producing a suspension of liquid in a gasiform atmosphere, comprising means for producing a spray of liquid in a stream of gasiform material, a spherical casing the axis of which is perpendicular to the direction of the spray, a spindle revolubly carried-by said casing along its axis, a plurality of perforated plates parallel with one another and with the spindle, means rigidly connecting said plates with the spindle, the peripheries of said plates being defined by a sphere matching the inside of the easing, and means for adjustably modifying the angular setting of the spindle and plates in the casing with reference to parallelism of the plates with the direction of the spray, and a tubular member connected with the outlet of the spherical casing opposed to the spray-producing means and through which the spray devoid of its heavier particles is projected outwardly.

2. An apparatus for producing a suspension of liquid in gasiform atmosphere comprising means for producing a spray of liquid in a -stream of gasiform material, a casing of revolution the axis of which is perpendicular to the direction of the spray, a spindle revolubly carried by said casing along its axis, a plurality of perforated plates parallel to each other and to the spindle, means rigidly connecting said plates with the spindle, the peripheries of said plates defining a contour substantially coinciding with the inside surface of the casing, and means for adjustably modifymg the angular setting of the spindleand plates in the casing with reference to parallelism of the 4 plates with the direction of the spray, and a tubular member connected with the outlet of the casing opposed to the spray-producing means and through which the spray devoid of its heavier particles is projected outwardly.

FERNAND GAUCHARD.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 632,370 Rossler Sept. 5, 1899 1,170,308 Mertz Feb. 1, 1916 1 ,319,572 Di Sante Oct. 21, 1919 1,640,564 Burdick Aug. 30, 1927 2,217,130 Niehart Oct. 8, 1940 2,382,681 Trier Aug. 14, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 406,978 France .L Dec. 18, 1909 

